


Second Time's the Charm

by kathoo



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), F/F, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Getting Back Together, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, Oumasai-centric, Slow Burn, Weddings, ish?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-27
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-05-29 05:06:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15065786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kathoo/pseuds/kathoo
Summary: "Oh, you’re Kaede’s friend, right?” Kokichi asked, not looking up from his phone. “Well, it’s terrible to meet—” Kokichi looked up to come face to face with Shuichi. “...you…”Shuichi had absolutely no idea what to say. There were millions of questions in his mind, but everything went blank. Filled with fear and dread, he forced out, “Hi.”.Upon being invited to Kaede's wedding, Shuichi is ready to enjoy two weeks in Paris along with his closest friends. Things take a sharp turn, however, when he finds that his ex-boyfriend happens to be the best friend of Kaede's fiancée.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i'm sure everyone's heard of this trope at some point, but i still think that it fits really well with this pairing, and if i have to be the one to write it than so be it! (i actually don't know if this has been done before but not as far as i know,,,)
> 
> some things to note about this au:  
> 
> 
> * everyone attended the same high school except for iruma, ouma, kiibo, angie, toujou, and shinguuji. 
> * everyone here is 26
> * momota, harukawa, and saihara are all roommates. 

“Bonjour,” Kaito greeted, rolling up his red suitcase with a grin. “Comment vas-tu?”

Shuichi looked up at Kaito, blinking. They were both standing at Gate B27, where they were waiting for their airplane to be ready for takeoff.  They were going to Paris—a city known for the Eiffel Tower, the Notre-Dame cathedral, and romance—for Kaede’s wedding. Shuichi had never been much of a traveler, and being completely honest, he’d never believed he would ever be so far for Japan for reasons unrelated to work. But there they were, about to board their plane.

Maki strolled up beside him, her own black suitcase in hand. Hers didn’t have wheels on them, so she must have lugged it up the entire way to the gate. Only Maki could accomplish such a feat without a single complaint. “Sorry for taking so long,” she apologized, voice monotone. “He wanted to stop at McDonalds, despite the long line.”

“That’s alright,” Shuichi forgave, making a crease on the page of his book. He hated bookmarking his books that way, but he didn’t have anything on him that could serve as a bookmark in that moment. “Um, is there any reason that Kaito’s speaking in French?” The only indication he had of what language Kaito was using was ‘bonjour’.

And French was a language he didn’t understand at all.

“Since we’re going to Paris, I want to become better with the language!” Kaito declared, smiling. “I asked ‘how are you’, by the way.”

Maki rolled her eyes. “All you did was spend five minutes on Duolingo.”

“Those five minutes were the most educational of my entire life,” Kaito countered, unfazed. Shuichi almost wanted to laugh—Kaito was acting as he usually did.

“I’m excited to see Kaede again,” Shuichi spoke in an attempt to make conversation. “I haven’t seen her since she moved to Marseille. We’ve called a few times here and there, but we lost touch.”  
  
“Same here,” Kaito agreed. “It’s been too long. And I heard some of our other friends from high school will be coming. It’ll be great to see ‘em again. I just wish more of us could’ve stayed in touch.”

“What’s her fiancée’s name again?” Maki questioned, eyes concentrated in thought.

“Miu Iruma,” Shuichi responded. “She’s a mechanical engineer. I haven’t met her yet, but Kaede sent me a picture of both of them together on the night that they got engaged. Miu’s the one who proposed, apparently. Kaede seemed… happy.”

A wisp of a smile was apparent on Maki’s face. “That’s good. She deserves it.”

Maki had mellowed down to a great extent since senior high, but she was still brutally honest and didn’t waste her time. She was an amazing friend, even if she liked to claim that Shuichi and Kaito were the exact opposite.

“Oh!” Kaito shouted, all of a sudden. “I think the plane’s boarding!”  
  
Shuichi grabbed his blue suitcase, ready for what was ahead. He was a bit nervous to be travelling to somewhere so different, but he would have his friends with him, so everything was bound to be alright. He’d just have to put a little faith in himself for once.

 

.

 

“I want the seat towards the aisle!” Kaito claimed, before taking the seat for himself without a second thought.

“Now we can’t get in,” Maki pointed out, before adding, “idiot.” She was right—Kaito was blocking the way to the other two seats, and to walk over to the other side would be a hassle.

“B-But… the aisle seat…” Kaito trailed off, realizing that he had just prevented himself from sitting in the seat closest to the aisle.  
  
“Sorry,” Shuichi apologized, although Maki didn’t seem to share the sentiment.

Maki ended up sitting in the aisle seat, much to Kaito’s chagrin. “You’re welcome, Harumaki,” Kaito said, crossing his arms. “I basically _gave_ you the aisle seat. I’ll be waiting on your letter of gratitude for my act of kindness.”  
  
“Quit acting like a baby,” Maki demanded, picking up her duffel bag to place in the compartment above the seats. It most likely held things like extra shirts and hairties, considering that it was the same duffel bag that she brought whenever they went to work out—although the aforementioned “workouts” happened far less frequently than they used to. “I hate children.”

“That’s not true,” Kaito denied. “Remember that time we found that lost kid together? You were all over her. You don’t want to admit it, but you love acting like a mother!”

“Be quiet,” Maki commanded, and Kaito did exactly that.

Shuichi, however, had a few questions. “Lost? Did you find her parents?”  
  
“Yeah,” Kaito responded. “The fucked up thing is they didn’t even know she was missing. They were a block away, waiting for their other kid to get out of school. And when we returned her they didn’t even bat an eye.”

“Some parents are awful,” Shuichi muttered. His mind flash to his own parents—who he hadn’t spoken to in an extremely long time. Sometimes he wondered if they even cared about how he was doing, or if he was even still alive. _They’d know if I was dead_ , he reminded himself, _but still. Would they care about it? Or are they just happy that they got to dump me on my uncle?_

“They are,” Kaito agreed. “That’s why people who _want_ kids should have ‘em. That’s why Harumaki should totally become a mother.”

“Whatever,” Maki muttered. “Maybe I don’t hate kids, but I don’t want any of my own, either. Not to mention that it’s going to be years before any of us have kids.”

“I dunno,” Kaito said. “Kaede always said that she loved kids. I don’t know who Miu is or what she’s like, but I imagine that they’ve talked about it before. It usually doesn’t take too long for married couples to have kids if they want ‘em.”

“I can’t imagine it,” Shuichi admitted, brushing away the mental imagine. “I haven’t seen in her in so long, and to think that she might be having kids soon… it’s too weird.”

“Mm,” Kaito hummed. “Oh, look at all the movies they have!” Kaito began pressing forcefully on the the touchscreen in front of him. Kaito’s eyes flickered from side to side, reading each selection.

“Of course they have movies,” Maki spoke, “it’s a twelve hour long flight. I’d be upset if they didn’t have them.”  
  
“T-That long?” Kaito sputtered. “Geez. I’m going to have to sit next to a total stranger for twelve hours.” Kaito glanced over at the seat to his right, which was still empty. It was also the only thing preventing Kaito from having the aisle seat he had wanted so badly.

“I don’t know,” Maki said, leaning over to look ahead. “I think they’re done boarding.”  
  
“Did they miss their flight?” Shuichi wondered aloud. It was the most likely possibility, considering that airlines were very tidy with their seating arrangements.

“In that case,” Kaito began. “Can we all move over one seat so that I can sit in the aisle?”

“No,” Maki answered with a note of finality, and Kaito groaned.

 

.

 

Shuichi awoke with a jolt, gasping just the slightest bit. Looking to his right, Kaito was looking directly at him. Kaito must have woken him up.

“Hey, dude,” Kaito whispered. Shuichi glanced to his left to see Maki sleeping peacefully, which was most likely the reason Kaito was being quiet. For once. “The stewardess came around with food, so I grabbed a boxed pizza for ya.”

Shuichi glanced downwards to see that his mini table had been moved down in front of him so that he could eat with ease. His stomach rumbled without warning, reminding Shuichi of how long it had been since he had last eaten. “Thank you,” Shuichi thanked, looking at the small pizza hungrily.

“Don’t get too excited,” Kaito warned, eyeing the pizza as if it had done something to hurt him on a personal level. “It’s not very good.”

Shuichi laughed softly before opening the box and taking a bite of the now cold pizza. Kaito was right—the sauce tasted too tangy, and the cold cheese didn’t help its case, but there wasn’t much more that one could expect from airplane food. He took a few bites before saying, “I don’t feel so hungry anymore.”  
  
“Told ya,” Kaito said, grinning. “It’s so boring on long plane rides. The longest one I’d ever been on before this was only a few hours.”

“How much longer have we got?” Shuichi asked. Shuichi looked over to the other section to see if anyone had their window uncovered, but sadly everyone around them had decided to do the opposite, preventing Shuichi from seeing if there was still daylight in whatever part of the world they were.

Kaito rubbed his neck sheepishly. “Ten hours and a half…”

Shuichi rolled his eyes. “Watch a movie until you get tired. It’s the best way to go about it.”

“Fine, fine,” Kaito sighed. “But first, can you help me with something?” Kaito lifted up his closed soda bottle. It was a glass bottle with a cap that was typically found on beer bottles, and although it looked strange to Shuichi, he supposed that airports would do things differently since they were so heavily influenced by other parts of the world. “I’m havin’ trouble gettin’ it open. Mind lending me a hand?”

Shuichi took a longer look at the bottle before nodding. “Yeah. Give me a second.”  
  
He reached under the seat in front of him to pull out his bag. It was difficult since his table was still down, but he managed. He fumbled inside the bag to search for what he was looking for, until he finally found it—his keys. He took ahold of Kaito’s bottle and placed the edge of one of his keys directly next to the cap. In one swift upwards motion, the key removed the cap with ease.

“I didn’t know keys could do that,” Kaito admitted. “But now I do. Thanks, man.” Kaito looked over at Shuichi’s keys just as he was about to put them back in his bag. “Hey, what’s that?” Kaito pointed to the charm Shuichi had on his keychain—a pair of dice. The colors were reversed, however, and the dots were white and the general color was black.

Shuichi’s mind flickered back to his ex—could he even call him an ex? Had they even truly been dating? Kokichi had been someone that he could never quite figured out, but even so… Shuichi had enjoyed the moments he spended with him. It was a shame that it had ended in such a—

 _No_ , he scolded himself. _You’re trying to be happy, so let yourself be. Don’t think of him. Not right now._

“It’s something my friend gave me a long time ago,” Shuichi answered.

Kaito seemed satisfied with the answer, and leaned back in his seat.

 

.

 

“We should think of a fun way to pass time,” Kaito suggested after Maki had woken up. “Like things you’d do on a road trip.”  
  
“We’re in a plane,” Maki reminded him. “With several other people. If we talk we’re only going to be a disturbance. Everyone is sleeping, Kaito. You should, too.”  
  
“Screw that,” Kaito muttered, unhappy with Maki’s response to his “brilliant” idea.

“She has a point,” Shuichi backed Maki up. “If you sleep than by the time you wake up the ride will be almost over.”

“No,” Kaito said, stubborn. “I’m not gonna sleep, and neither are either of you. We’re going to bond!”  
  
“No, thanks,” Maki refused, putting the headphones connected to the touchscreen on. “I’m going to watch something. You two have fun.”  
  
“I brought a book,” Shuichi said, reaching down for his bag again, “and I want to read it.”

“You two are no fun,” Kaito complained. “I didn’t really think ahead to bring anything, so I don’t know what to do.”

Maki had already selected something to watch, and wasn’t able to respond in her usual deadpan manner. Instead of leaving Kaito in silence, Shuichi responded with, “I brought an extra book, if you want to read.”

“No thanks,” Kaito spoke, sighing. “It’s fine, sorry for bein’ annoying. I just wanna spend some time with my bro, is all! But you obviously have better things to do…”  
  
Shuichi froze for a minute, before narrowing his eyes. “You’re trying to guilt trip me.”

Kaito shook his head, obviously faked confusion on his face. “I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about. All I’m sayin’ is that I know that you don’t really have time for me when you could be doing better things, like reading your book. I get it.”

“You are,” Shuichi insisted, seeing directly through Kaito’s plan.

“I’m just tellin’ you that it’s alright,” Kaito defended himself. “I know that your book is more interesting than me, I get it… I’ll just sit around until the ride is over. In silence. All alone. It’s no big deal, really.”

Shuichi sighed, and let go of his bag. Kaito was painfully obvious about it, but Shuichi supposed that humoring Kaito didn’t bring any harm. “What do you want to do?”

 

.

 

Shuichi stood up, stretching. The plane had just landed, and Shuichi felt like he could fall over from wariness, in complete honesty. But he was prepared for the walk he’d have to make through the airport.

“Finally,” Kaito said, excitement lacing through his voice. “I still can’t believe we’re in Paris, of all places… I never thought I’d be here.”  
  
“I don’t think any of us did,” Maki agreed, reaching up to retrieve her duffel bag from the compartment above them. “But… I’m glad we are. It’ll be a new experience, right?”

Kaito laughed. “I like your spirit, Harumaki! I’m surprised that the ice queen is saying something encouraging today.”  
  
Maki flushed, glaring at him. “Shut up.”

“It’s a week until the wedding,” Shuichi reminded all of them. “I wonder what’s going to be in store until then. We’ll have so much time to kill.”

“Maki will find a way,” Kaito responded, “she loves killing things.”  
  
“Did I not just tell you to shut up?” Maki hissed at the same time that Shuichi laughed.

Maki was definitely the child who would go out of her way to crush anthills. Even in senior high Maki had always held a deep interest for things that were dead, and she was always the one to volunteer to kill a bug whenever one was present. This had always made Gonta—an old friend—upset, but Maki never seemed to take his words seriously.

“He’s not wrong,” Shuichi admitted, and Maki shifted her death glare towards Shuichi.

“I will kill you with my eyes alone,” Maki threatened, before her facade cracked and she started laughing. “Ah… it’s been so long since I’ve said things like that unironically. I miss being an edgy teenager.”

“Shuichi was edgier,” Kaito said, and Shuichi made a noise of indignation.  
  
“I don’t think he was edgy,” Maki denied, “but he was definitely emo, which is worse.”

“Uh,” Shuichi intervened, “can I say something, here?”

Maki was already walking down the aisle, and Kaito went around the section to hurry after her. Shuichi picked up his bag and practically ran to catch up with the traitors he called friends.

 

.

 

“Kaede’s driving us to the hotel everyone’s staying at,” Shuichi said after reading Kaede’s text. “Apparently we’re earlier than the others, so she’s going to have the time to take us there herself. She’ll be here soon.”  
  
“It’s freezing,” Maki said, rubbing her hands up and down her arms, “so she’d better be.”  
  
“Here,” Kaito said, taking off his jacket. “Wear this.”  
  
Maki blinked. “No.”

“H-Huh?”

“I don’t want it,” Maki hissed, looking away from Kaito and towards Shuichi. “Do you know who else we know will be there?” It was an obvious attempt to steer the conversation away from Kaito’s offer, but Shuichi didn’t say anything on the matter.

“I know Rantaro will be there,” Shuichi told them. “Tenko and Himiko are definitely going to be there, and I think Tsumugi will be there. Gonta should be there as well, but I don’t know. I know that Ryouma couldn’t make it.”

“Damn,” Kaito muttered under his breath. “I was lookin’ forward to seeing Ryouma again. I wanna know how he’s doing.”

“He’s fine,” Maki spoke up. “I saw him just last week.”  
  
“What?!” Kaito sputtered staring at her in astonishment.

“We meet up every weekend for a game of pool,” Maki told him. “You didn’t know that?”  
  
“No!” Kaito answered. “And you never thought to invite me?”  
  
“No, not really,” Maki admitted.

“I’ve been worrying for a year now,” Kaito grumbled, pointedly not looking at her.

“Thanks to me you don’t have to worry anymore,” Maki deadpanned, sending Shuichi an amused smile that read loud and clear— _can you believe this guy?_

“I knew that. I think you’re just kind of oblivious,” Shuichi said.

“Hey,” Kaito weakly protested. “At least I care, okay?”

“I haven’t seen Tenko and Himiko in awhile,” Maki murmured, ignoring Kaito. “I’m surprised that Tenko hasn’t proposed yet. They’ve been dating for awhile, and they’re heads-over-heels for one another.”

“I don’t need another wedding after this one,” Kaito declared. “I’m not good at formal things like these. I’m already kind of afraid I’ll ruin somethin’.”  
  
Shuichi looked at Kaito, surprise making its way onto his features. It was always Kaito who would comfort someone when they weren’t feeling well, but… for Kaito to reveal his own insecurities was a rare occurrence. _He must really be scared._

“Don’t be an idiot,” Maki scolded him. “You’ll be fine. And don’t second guess yourself, it’s annoying.”

Maki always had her own roundabout way of comforting someone, but it worked just as effectively. Maki wasn’t the type of person to pretend to care about someone, so whenever she said something, it was always genuine.

“You’re right,” Kaito admitted. “Sorry. Anyway, when is Kaede going to—”

Two consecutive honks caught their attention. They looked up to see Kaede in the back of a black car, waving at them all.

“Kaede!” Kaito cheered, running up to the car with his suitcase in hand. Maki followed quickly behind him with Shuichi hot on her trail.

“Hi!” Kaede said, giving him a hug. “It’s good to see you again!”

Kaede looked just about the same as she had when Shuichi had last seen her in person, except… she seemed happier. As if she had found something she was looking for.

Maki refused Kaede’s hug, but Maki seemed thrilled to see Kaede once more. “You look nice,” Maki said.

“So do you,” Kaede returned the compliment, flashing her signature grin.

Before long, Kaede’s attention was on Shuichi, and her grin only broaded. “Shuichi!” she cheered, reaching out and wrapping him in a bear hug. He barely had the strength to hug back with how tight it was, but when Kaede started moving them both side to side in the hug he couldn’t help but laugh.

“It’s been so long,” she told him. “There’s so much that I have to tell you about.”

“I can’t wait to hear about it,” he said, feeling excitement course through him. He was about to get his best friend back.

“Here,” she spoke, turning to their luggage. “I’ll help you guys put this in the back. Maki, mind lending me a hand?”

Maki nodded before swiftly making her way to the luggage, picking most of their bags up with practiced ease. “Is it okay if I just put in anywhere in the back, or should I make room for something?”

“Nope,” Kaede responded, lifting the few things that were left. “Feel free to just dump it in there!”

Maki nodded, and Shuichi winced from the sound of the heavy bags hitting the car so loudly.

“You can get in the car,” Kaede called over her shoulder. “Miu couldn’t come—she’s busy right now, but her friend’s driving. You have no idea how long it took me to convince him not to listen to Lady Gaga at top volume, so you’d better thank me. Oh, and Shuichi, you can sit in the passenger seat. I’m not sure there’s room enough for the four of us in the back.”

“Got it,” Shuichi replied, feeling anxiety swell within him. He wasn’t very good with new people. Swallowing his fears, Shuichi opened up the door to the passenger seat, his heart thumping. He didn’t know what it was that he was expecting, but it most _definitely_ wasn’t what he got.

There, sitting down in the driver’s seat staring at his phone, was Kokichi Ouma.

“Oh, you’re Kaede’s friend, right?” Kokichi asked, not looking up from his phone. “Well, it’s terrible to meet—” Kokichi looked up to come face to face with Shuichi. “...you…”

Shuichi had absolutely no idea what to say. There were millions of questions in his mind, but everything went blank. Filled with fear and dread, he forced out, “Hi.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> now that summer is here, i'll have more time to focus on this along with other projects of mine! however, i'm still a person who has things to do, and life is a bit stressful right now, so i can't promise everyone one week updates like some other authors might be able to. i'm sorry haha 
> 
> i'll try to put a lot of focus into this one in particular because it has a set amount of chapters as well as a completely mapped out plotline, so i should be able to update this one quickly (ish).
> 
> all comments and kudos are very much appreciated!! ty!!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm... not dead.
> 
> I know that this is a month later, which is... much later than people usually update, but life really does get in the way, not to mention I'm constantly stressed out trying to get different projects done for different people and it really... sucks. But this is one that I've been meaning to update, so I'm glad I could finally do it! I've been adding tiny bits to this chapter almost every day, but I always end up forgetting about it/leaving it for the next day. But today I finally decided to finish the chapter, so I quite literally worked on it all night. 
> 
> It's now two in the morning, so I really hope that you enjoy this chapter.

“Saihara-chan?” Kokichi said aloud, surprise evident on his features. It was strange. Kokichi had never quite been so open about what he was feeling before—unless he was lying, of course. Lying was always what he did best, after all. _Then again_ , he reminded himself, _how well did I ever really know him?_

The car door shut with a thud as Kaede entered in from the right side. Kaito didn’t seem to have heard either of them, and Maki wasn’t in the car yet, but Kaede’s sharp ears heard the entire exchange. She raised an eyebrow at the two of them. “Do you two know each other?” she asked, her voice innocently inquisitive. She had no idea what immense awkwardness both Kokichi and Shuichi were facing right now.

Shuichi opened his mouth, ready to say something—then closed it. What was he supposed to say to that? _“He’s my ex,”_ would be horrible—but _“We don’t,”_ would be even worse, because Kaede would see right through it. Unsurprisingly, Shuichi had no idea what to say.

Luckily, Kokichi said it for him. “We went to the same college for a year.”

That was true, at least. Shuichi had met Kokichi in college, where they both had majored in Criminology. Shuichi hadn’t ever expected to form a close bond with him, but exchanging notes lead to one thing, which lead to another, which lead to another—until they inevitably began dating. Or at least, they both said that they were.

Until Kokichi left. No goodbye, no letter, no explanation—absolutely nothing left behind for Shuichi except for the other students informing him that they heard he’d moved far away. The person he had let himself grow close to despite Tenko—only person who attended both high school and college with him—warning him had ditched him, proving her right. Not even Maki and Kaito had known, because he was afraid that Kokichi’s constantly playful attitude wouldn’t sit right with the both of them. And Tenko, despite her vocal “hatred” for him, vowed not to tell a soul about what happened.

And now here he was, sitting next to the person who made him spend at least a hundred dollars on buying ice cream. (Tenko had been right—ice cream was the best medicine.)

“Oh,” Kaede spoke in realization. “That’s pretty cool! Things like these don’t happen all the time. It’s weird that you guys get to see each other again in a totally different country.”  
  
“Yep,” Kokichi agreed, smiling brightly as if he didn’t care at all about what had actually happened. Shuichi hoped that it was fake. “It’s sure a coinkydink.”

Shuichi felt his throat tighten. There were so many questions that he wanted to answers to, but at the same time he didn’t want to hear anything at all. If Kokichi had left without so much as a heads-up, then had he really cared at all? And if Shuichi asked, would he ever get an honest answer, or would Kokichi treat it like a game?

 _Had_ it been a game to him?

Just then, Maki slid into the side of the car opposite from Kaede, and shut the door with a sharp noise. Kaito flinched from the sudden sound before saying, “You don’t hafta be so harsh with the car door, Harumaki. It didn’t do anything to you…”

Maki rolled her eyes before she set her eyes on Kokichi. She looked mildly uncomfortable at meeting a new face so quickly, but she found it in herself to make an attempt at a decent introduction. “Hi. I’m Maki Harukawa.”

“And I’m Kaito Momota!” Kaito added, cheerful. He was obviously much better with social interactions than Maki was.

“Hi Harukawa-chan! Hi Momota-chan!” Kokichi returned with a peppy voice. One might perceive it as excitement, but Shuichi knew Kokichi well enough to know that Kokichi was about to turn the tables really soon. “It’s _sooo_ nice to meet you!”

“Who are you?” Maki asked.

“Oh, me?” Kokichi said bashfully, putting a hand against his heart. “I’m Britney Spears.”  
  
Kaede frowned. “Kokichi.”

“Fine, fine,” Kokichi relented, his grin remaining a constant. “I’m Kokichi Ouma. Don’t say my name out loud, though. There are people trying to find me, and they’ll stop at nothing.”

“H-Huh?!” Kaito exclaimed. “You runnin’ from a gang or somethin’?”

“He was lying again,” Maki told him, rolling her eyes. Shuichi couldn’t blame her—Kaito was gullible to the point where it could be irritating. He was oblivious, but he was also well-meaning—he only ever wanted to help.

“Oh,” Kaito said intelligently. “I knew that.”

“You’re fun, Momota-chan,” Kokichi told the purple-haired space enthusiast. Kaito didn’t seem to know what to make of it.

“Um, thanks?” Kaito rubbed the back of his neck.

Shuichi felt his stomach churn—not in jealousy, he knew what jealousy felt like. More like… disappointment. He felt cheated out of something. He felt like clenching his fists, mostly so his emotions wouldn’t show on his face. After a ridiculously long time Kokichi couldn’t even bother to look guilty. Shuichi knew that it wouldn’t be like Kokichi to act like how he was really feeling, but Shuichi wished that for just _once_ in their lives Kokichi would choose him over his facade.

Then again, Shuichi didn’t seem to be the one Kokichi loved more when choosing between the two.

“Tonight’s going to be fun,” Kaede promised. “We’re going to head to the hotel first and get all of you situated, and then I’ll let you three rest for awhile. I know how exhausting planes are. After that we’ll all go out to eat for dinner and get ice cream afterwards! How does that sounds?”

Kaito makes a face. “No thanks to the ice cream. I need to cut down on sweets.”

“He really does,” Maki agreed. “You should’ve been around to witness his candy stash. It was—”

“Amazing,” Kaito finished.

Maki sent him a pointed glare, and Kaito put his hands up in mock surrender. “Horrific,” she completed her sentence, not looking away from Kaito.

Kaito had always had a bit of a sweet tooth. That may be an understatement, considering the amount of candy he used to hoard, but Shuichi never complained much because Kaito let him sneak a gummy worm here or there away from his pile. Maki, on the other hand, was not pleased at all when she discovered it. She made Kaito give the candy to some of their friends, and she didn’t let him hoard candy ever again—not even gummy worms. All candy had to be kept in the kitchen for all of them to have, and most importantly, for Maki to monitor.

Kokichi doesn’t comment on that, which is strange. Kokichi always has something to say about everything. Shuichi looks Kokichi’s way to see if something wrong, only to find that Kokichi had been looking at him. Kokichi turned his head back around the second that Shuichi saw him staring, but Shuichi couldn’t help but wonder what was on Kokichi’s mind.

 _I hope he feels as awful as I do right now,_ Shuichi thought. _Or maybe that’s mean. He’s my ex-boyfriend, but he’s also my ex_ friend. _Maybe I should be wishing that he’s made peace._

“That sounds like Kaito,” Kaede said, a fond smile on her face. After letting out a sigh, she continued, “I really missed you guys. Marseille is where I live, but you guys are my home, really. I was really lonely when I moved here. I thought I’d find new opportunities here after I graduated from Aix-Marseille—but I was really uninspired. I was lonely, and I didn’t have anyone there to help motivate me. I’ve always been so positive, and I’ve always cheered people up, but I just… couldn’t bring myself to do anything. I felt stuck.”

Kaito frowned, and reached over to put an arm around Kaede. “Kaede… y’know, we’re always gonna be your friends. If you needed help we were just a call away.”

Kaede shook her head. “It’s not the same. I really didn’t think I could bring myself to do much until I met Miu. I didn’t feel lonely anymore. I was still learning French when I was here, so it was a bit hard to socialize, but now I’m much better. Miu moved here from Japan, too, so she understood—and she was a bit rude at first, sure, but she was my best friend.” Kaede smiled, her teeth bright against the sun shining through the car window. “And now she’s going to be my wife.”

“Not to mention she introduced you to her _awesome_ friends,” Kokichi added. “Well, no, that’s a lie. All of them are awful except for me.”

Kaede rolled her eyes. “All of you are amazing.”

“I can’t wait to meet them!” Kaito declared, an excited expression present on his face. “Your to-be-wife’s friends are your friends are my friends.”

Shuichi blinked. “Did anyone understand that…?”

“No,” Maki answered, moving her head to look out the window. “Are we going to leave within the next decade?”  
  
Kaito pouted. “You’re no fun, Maki Roll…”

“Get ready,” Kokichi warned. “We’re going turbo speed!”

And with that, they pulled into the road full of predictable traffic—it was an airport, after all—and went at about five miles per hour until they could exit.

 

 

.

 

 

Kokichi had some random pop song on the radio that Shuichi didn’t quite care enough to listen to, and everyone in the back was talking amongst themselves. Kokichi’s eyes were focused on the road—which was strange, Kokichi was never focused—and Shuichi had no idea what to say.

“So,” Kokichi began, and Shuichi whipped his head around to face him. Were his ears deceiving him? Was Kokichi Ouma the one confronting him? “What’s up?”

“Um,” Shuichi started, “I don’t… know?”

A silence filled the front of the car.

“Where have you been?” Shuichi blurted, unable to stop himself. “It’s… been a really long time. Why are you _here_ , in _France_ of all places to be?”

Kokichi is silent for a long while. When the song ends and the commercials begin, Kokichi finally says, “Why are _you_ in France?”

_Shooting the question back at me. I’m not surprised. I’m… frustrated, but not surprised._

“Kaede is my best friend,” Shuichi answered matter-of-factly, making sure to keep his voice down so that Kaede couldn’t here either of them. “Of course I’d be here for her wedding. And you’re Miu’s friend, aren’t you? That’s why you’re here.”

Shuichi remembered earlier when Kokichi had stated that all of Miu’s friends _except_ for him were awful—which could only mean that Kokichi himself was a friend of Miu’s.

“Nice work, Mr. Detective,” Kokichi said in the playful way that made Shuichi’s heart twist—it was just like it was when they were dating.

“I was worried,” Shuichi whispered, feeling his throat tighten. “And now you’re here. It took me so long to stop thinking about you every day, and now you’re here.”

“Don’t let this stop that,” Kokichi told him, his hands noticeably tightening around the steering wheel. “After this, we’re not going to see each other again unless it has to do with Kaede and Miu, so don’t keep thinking about me. If you’ve moved on, then that’s great—don’t move backwards.”

“It’s not that _easy_ ,” Shuichi hissed, feeling pent up emotions seep into his words. “Can you at least explain what happened? Can you at least explain why you had to leave? I know you’ve always been secretive, but I thought you at least trusted _me_.”

“Maybe you thought wrong,” Kokichi suggested, using his best self-defense mechanism—lying. “Maybe I was just messing with you.”  
  
“For a year,” Shuichi deadpanned, shooting him a _you’ve got to be kidding me_ look.

“Yo,” Kaito interrupted, “what’re you two whisperin’ about up there?”

And with that, it seemed that both Shuichi and Kokichi realized that the back seat was no longer talking.

“Dumb stuff that happened in college,” Kokichi lied. “Y’know—parties, booze, _ladies_.”

Kaede burst out into laughter at the same time Shuichi tried and failed to stifle a laugh of his own.

“What’s so funny?” Kokichi demanded, shooting a pointed look at both of them.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Kaede downplayed it, “it’s just that—you implying that you are and were ever even slightly heterosexual is probably the funniest thing I’ve heard all week.”

“Definitely,” Kaito agreed. “I don’t know you well, dude, but even _my_ gaydar is good enough to detect you. And my gaydar sucks.”

“Maybe you should get it upgraded,” Maki suggests, a slight smile on her lips. It happened so rarely that Shuichi had forgotten she was really capable of making light-hearted jokes.

“Oh, yeah?” Kaito challenged. “I changed my mind. I have a great gaydar. And you know who it detects?” Kaito turned around to poke Kaede’s stomach, “You!”

Kaede laughed, shoving Kaito’s hand away. “Okay, okay! Don’t poke me, I’m ticklish!”

And with that, the back seat exploded into chaos once more, and Shuichi and Kokichi were left to themselves.

“I just want to know what happened to you,” Shuichi murmured. “I just want to know if there was something I could’ve done to make you stay. I know there probably was, and I know I didn’t do it, and I know I was an awful boyfriend—”  
  
“Shut _up_ ,” Kokichi hissed. “Jesus, you were a fucking great boyfriend, okay? You did everything right. It was _me._  The reason I moved had to do with me, not you, and no, I _don’t_ want to talk about it. We’re here now, and we’re going to be here, and I don’t care if it hurts or not, because we have to do it for Kaede and Miu. So let’s just… stop talking about it, okay?”

Kokichi was being honest, and Shuichi knew that it wouldn’t last, so he had to take it as it was.

“Okay,” Shuichi agreed, his voice hoarse.

His fists didn’t unclench the entire way through.

 

.

 

 

“Oo,” Kaito gasped as they stepped into the hotel. “Fancy!”

“Yep,” Kaede agreed. “Hey, I’m gonna go check in and help you guys get situated. While you guys are waiting you can sit over there.” Kaede pointed to an area with two chairs and one couch in the lobby. Someone had just gotten off the couch, and now the entire area was empty.

“Come on, guys!” Kaito exclaimed. “We gotta get it before someone else does!” And with that, he sped off.

“Be careful, idiot!” Maki called after him, quickly catching up to him.

Shuichi sighed, trailing behind the two of them, not having enough energy to run. After a second he felt footsteps walking beside him, and he turned to face Kokichi.

“Tired?” Kokichi asked.

“Yeah,” Shuichi admitted. “It’s… no big deal.”

“Don’t do that thing you do where you say it’s fine even though it’s not,” Kokichi told him, voice a bit rough. “And then you overwork yourself because of it. It’s dumb.”

“I don’t do that anymore,” Shuichi admitted. “Kaito and Maki helped me break out of that habit. I know my limits better, now.”

Shuichi can’t help but notice Kokichi tense. _I wonder if he’s upset that they helped me get better, and not him._ Shuichi wanted to sigh. _If he had stuck around then it could’ve been him. Everything that Kaito and Maki have done for me… it could have been him. But it wasn’t him, and I’m glad it wasn’t—because Kaito and Maki would never ditch me._

Shuichi can’t help but feel as if he’s lying to himself. He can’t help but… wish that it was Kokichi. He can’t help but wish that things could’ve worked out.

“Alrighty,” Kokichi continued, switching back to his facade. “I didn’t think you’d ever loosen up, Mr. Detective!”

Shuichi didn’t respond. Both of them made it to the area that Kaito and Maki were sprawled across in order to save the seats for the two of them, who were very, very slow. _Really, Kokichi was only slow so he could walk beside me._

 

 

.

 

 

“Alright,” Kaede said while walking over to them, a guilty look on her face. “Something… went wrong. I meant to book a room with two beds and a pull out couch for Kaito, Maki, and Shuichi… but it turns out the room only has a bed and a pull out couch. The room that I meant to book for you three I accidentally booked for Tenko and Himiko.”

“Okay. Why can’t we use Tenko and Himiko’s room, then? Or one of the other’s rooms? None of them are here yet,” Kaito pointed out.

“That _would_ work,” Kaede started, “but none of the others are going to be here for another three days. And I knew that when I booked these rooms, so none of the other rooms are ready yet. As far as I know, someone else could be currently occupying them.”

“There’s another easy solution,” Kaito began. “Maki Roll and I can share one bed, and Shuichi can sleep on the pull out couch!”  
  
“Hey!” Shuichi mumbled in indignation.

“No way,” Maki refused. “I am not doing that.”  
  
“One of you losers could stay at my apartment for the next few days,” Kokichi offered in an obnoxious voice. “However, you’ll need to do _alll_ of the work for me. Sounds fair, right? Okay, which one of you lucky ducks will be spending time with the one, the only—”

“We’re not doing that, either!” Kaito declared.

“Besides two of you sharing a bed and Kokichi’s apartment, I don’t know what else we can do,” Kaede admitted. “I’m really sorry, guys.”

“It’s fine,” Shuichi assured her. “I can just sleep on the floor.”

“Not happening,” Maki shot him down.

“ _No_ way,” Kokichi refused, his mind clearly made up.

“I’ll go with Kokichi,” Maki offered. Everyone shot her a look of surprise. “You have a couch I can sleep on, right?”

“I have a spare room, actually,” Kokichi told her. “Only the finest for my trashy guests.”

Maki rolled her eyes. “I can take that, then. I’m fine with it.”

Kaito frowned. “Seriously, Maki Roll? I was kidding about sharing a bed. Shuichi and I can do that! You can have the pull out couch to yourself.”

“I’ve made up my mind,” Maki told him. “Besides, I’ll get my own room. That’s way better than a cramped hotel room.”

“We should get going, then!” Kokichi encouraged. “The traffic gets real bad real soon. Besides, don’t you wanna sing along to the music with me?”

Maki allowed a smile to grace her features as she look at Kaito and Shuichi. “I’ll see you both for dinner, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Kaito said, disappointment visible on his face. “See ya, Maki Roll…”

Kaede put her hand on his shoulder soothingly. “Don’t worry. You’ll get the girl soon.”

Kaito laughed. “I don’t know about that, but thanks, Kaede. Let’s head up!”

The entire elevator ride Shuichi wondered if Kaito realized that everyone knew he wasn’t as happy as he seemed.

 

 

.

 

 

Shuichi didn’t realize he had fallen asleep until he woke up. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he rolled over, feeling a bit gruggy. He rolled over and realized that he was on the bed—he glanced over at Kaito, who was sleeping on the couch. He reached over for the nightstand and grabbed his phone, and looked at his lockscreen, which was a picture of him, Kaito, and Maki all posing for a picture.

It had taken forever to get Maki to agree.

Looking at his notifications, he realized that he had received… a bunch of messages. He lazily put in his password to check them.

 **_[Kaede Akamatsu, 4:04]_ ** _Unless you’re sleeping right now, I’m sure you’ve noticed that it’s raining! The forecast didn’t call for this, so I’m sorry. I think we’ll have to cancel on dinner - I booked us an outdoor place. I suck at booking things, don’t I, haha?_

 **_[Kaede Akamatsu, 4:05]_ ** _To make up for it we’ll all have breakfast tomorrow morning! Kokichi will be coming, and I’m going to ask Miu and Angie (a friend of Miu’s) if they can come! Miu still has work, and Angie has a tight schedule doing religious things, so it’ll take a bit of convincing!_

 **_[Kaede Akamatsu, 4:06]_ ** _Oh, and… Miu’s been really anxious to meet you guys. She’s kind of scared, so be nice, okay? It’s not you I’m worried about, moreso Maki, but I just thought I’d put it out there. Anyway, have fun, and feel free to check out stuff at the hotel for food! They have some pretty good things there.  I’ll call you later tonight to see how you’re doing. Bye!_

It took a minute for the words to comprehend in Shuichi’s tired mind, but eventually he was able to type out a reply.

 **_[Shuichi Saihara, 6:23]_ ** _It’s no problem. And don’t worry, you’re great at planning things, you just got thrown a curveball. Anyway, I’ll be sure to look around the hotel. See you._

He swiped downwards to see that Maki had texted him, too. Maki didn’t use her phone a lot, so it must have been something either good or bad.

 **_[Maki Harukawa, 5:43]_ ** _I overestimated myself. I thought I could handle Kokichi, but… I can’t. Can you… I don’t know, come over? It’ll be easier to deal with him if you’re around. Don’t ask Kaito to come, though. He definitely wouldn’t do any better than I am. You’re kind of like a mediator, though, so if you could help me that’d be great._

 **_[Maki Harukawa, 5:45]_ ** _And by ‘that’d be great’ I mean if you don’t help me I will never forget that. You’d better be over here soon._

Shuichi felt panic engulf him—not because he was afraid of Maki, he’d long since passed that stage—but because he’d left her hanging for almost forty minutes now. _I’m a terrible friend_ , he thought.

 **_[Shuichi Saihara, 6:26]_ ** _I’m sorry… I just woke up. I’ll head over now if that’s okay?_

He didn’t expect the reply to be immediate.

 **_[Maki Harukawa, 6:26]_ ** _That’s fine. But please, come over now. He’s trying to get me to play Monopoly. I don’t want to begin that hell. He knows you’re coming. I’ll send you the address._

Shuichi sighed, and forced himself out of the sweet, warm embrace of his bed. As per usual, he had to put his friends before himself.

After combing his messy hair, leaving a note for Kaito, and grabbing enough euros to hail a taxi to and from Kokichi’s apartment building, Shuichi quietly exited the room, leaving Kaito to snore quietly to himself.

 

 

.

 

 

Rather than Kokichi, Maki was the one who opened the door, relief written all over her face. “You’re here,” she said. “It was taking so long that I thought you weren’t coming.”

“Kokichi wasn’t lying earlier,” Shuichi told her. “The traffic was really bad.”

Maki moved aside, letting Shuichi step into the apartment. It was fairly plain—a couch, a TV, a kithen connected to the living room. There were throw pillows and blankets everywhere, though. Like a den. Not to mention the walls were painted a bright purple that… strangely complimented the room very well.

“Hey, Shuichi,” Kokichi called over, and Shuichi felt his heart thump. “Convince Maki Roll to play Monopoly! You can play, too. For a fee, of course.”

It… really felt a lot like when they’d been dating. He really, really missed it.

“Don’t call me that,” Maki demanded. “I don’t want to play Monopoly. It takes forever and I hate it.”

“Monopoly can be fun,” Shuichi told Maki. “Maybe we can have a set time that we stop playing so that we don’t go on forever.”

“How will be dictate the winner, though?” Maki asked. “By money or by properties?”

“Money, I think,” Shuichi answered.

“Hm,” Kokichi hummed. “Alright. But don’t expect to win! I’ll always be the champion! As soon as I can find wherever I put the dumb board.”

Shuichi raked his hand through his hair. This was going to be a long night.

 

 

.

 

 

“That’s stupid,” Maki criticized. “Why would you go for placing a hotel so early on in the game? Isn’t the point to accumulate the most properties and then upgrade them to trap your opponents?”

“Be quiet,” Kokichi hissed. “Your strategizing is ruining the game.”

“But you’re strategizing, aren’t you?” Shuichi asked. “You hate losing games. You have to have some sort of plan.”

“Maybe I do,” Kokichi agreed. “Maybe I don’t. But either way it won’t matter if the banker doesn’t give me my damn hotel.”

Maki grumbled, reluctantly handing over the red playing piece. “This win is going to be easy if you keep making ridiculous moves.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Kokichi warned. “I’m _always_ the champion.”

Shuichi’s turn came around, and he found himself unsure of what to do. If he rolled a six or a ten he would land of Kokichi’s properties, not to mention the latter was the one Kokichi had placed a hotel on. He rolled the dice, and surely enough, it landed on a ten. It was just Shuichi’s luck.

“Ha!” Kokichi laughed. “The dice are always in my favor.”

Shuichi fell silent, unsure on what to say about that. Dice had always been a signature thing of Kokichi—( _“Maybe one day I should found a group named Dice,” Kokichi thought aloud. “Doesn’t that sound like a nice name?”_ )—not to mention the dice keychain that Kokichi had gotten Shuichi for his birthday. It… meant a lot to him.

“How much do I owe you?” Shuichi asked.

“Five thousand dollars,” Kokichi told him.

“Five hundred,” Maki clarified, glaring at Kokichi.

Shuichi looked down on his money—he had three hundred, mostly because he had bought a lot of properties. “I don’t have the money to pay,” he answered.

“You could mortgage some of your properties,” Maki suggested.

Shuichi shook his head. “No, it’s okay. I can just be out of the game.”

“That’s not how it works! You can’t give up so easily!” Kokichi whined. “You have to keep going!”  
  
“I don’t want to mortgage anything, though, and I’d rather not be in debt to you,” Shuichi told him. He’d played with Kokichi enough times to know the bad outcome.

“That’s boring,” Kokichi complained. “Fine, you don’t have to pay me anything at all. Are you happy, now? Are you happy that you’ve robbed me of my well-earned money?”

“I don’t think that’s allowed,” Maki commented, lifting up the rule sheet to examine in once more.

“What if I give him five hundred dollars and then he gives it back to me?” Kokichi questioned.

Maki blinked. “I don’t think… that’s allowed either.”

“Ugh,” Kokichi groaned. “This game sucks!”

“You’re the one who wanted to play it,” Shuichi pointed out.

Maki let out a yawn, putting her hand over her mouth. “I’m getting tired… maybe we should stop here. That means Kokichi wins, right? Because he’s supposed to have his current money along with an invisible five hundred dollars.”

“Of course it does,” Kokichi cheered. “I’m always the winner!”

“Mm,” Maki murmured. “Well, I’m heading off to the spare room. Night.”

“Night,” Shuichi called after her, reaching for the Monopoly board to put away. He began placing the pieces back into the box.

Once Maki was gone, Kokichi said, “That game was boring. You usually put up a better fight than that.”

Shuichi gave him a tired look. “I used a strategy that didn’t work in this case. There wasn’t anything I could do.”

“You could’ve mortgaged, you just wanted the game to end,” Kokichi accused. “That’s pretty rude, if I do say so myself. Not to mention that you never like to give up, even in Monopoly.”

“Things change in the span of two years,” Shuichi muttered. When Kokichi didn’t respond, he added, “Sorry. That was… uncalled for.”

Kokichi sighed, and picked up the top of the box and put it on the bottom to close it. “It’s fine. I get it. I left, blah blah blah, and now you want answers but you’re not getting any. Sound right?”

The way that Kokichi was trivializing it made him uncomfortable, but Shuichi nodded. “Something like that.”

“I’m not telling you because it’s personal, and you’re not a part of my personal life anymore,” Kokichi told him sharply, and Shuichi wouldn’t lie—it stung really badly.

“I guess that’s true,” Shuichi admitted. “I wish I knew why, but I doubt you’ll ever tell me. After knowing you for so long, and liking you for so long… it kind of sucks that my first real, genuine relationship ended like this. But I’ll be gone in a few weeks, anyway, and you won’t have to deal with me anymore. It’ll be a lot better.”

Kokichi sighed. “I’m… sorry. I’m sorry that you had to come to your best friend’s wedding, and now you’re not enjoying the vacation because I’m here. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I wasn’t supposed to see you again.”

Shuichi shook his head, barely stifling a yawn. “I’m sorry, too. I… miss you a lot. I know you probably don’t miss me, but it’s… nice to know that you’re okay. I should probably head back to the hotel, now. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

Kokichi gave him a weird look. “It’s… one in the morning, Shuichi. Are you really leaving now?”

Shuichi blinked. “That late…?”

“Sleep on the couch,” Kokichi offered. “I’m sure Maki’s boyfriend won’t mind. Unless he’s your boyfriend. Is he gay? I couldn’t tell.”

Shuichi rolled his eyes. “Kaito and I aren’t dating. And Kaito’s bi, but he’s… really crushing hard on Maki.”

“Really? I couldn’t tell,” Kokichi said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Shuichi wasn’t able to contain a yawn this time, and he slumped against his chair, ready to pass out.

“You look tired as hell,” Kokichi commented, and Shuichi send him a _thanks, I didn’t know_ look. “Didn’t you take a nap or something?”

“I did,” Shuichi spoke. “I… don’t know. I’m tired a lot, I guess.”

“Some things never change,” Kokichi muttered. “There are blankets everywhere. Grab any one of your choosing, but they’re like my children and if you ruin any of them you’ll have to revive them using a blood sacrifice. Anyway, good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite. Unless you’re into that sort of thing. Then let them bite all you want.”

And with that, Kokichi left the room. Shuichi couldn’t even bring it in himself to be a little surprised.

Nothing had really went as planned, but… Shuichi had the sneaking suspicion that neither of them were entirely over each other yet. Shuichi knew that Kokichi had loved him, and he knew that Kokichi didn’t fall in love easily—so he must still hold _some_ place in Kokichi’s heart, even if Kokichi wanted to lie about it.

Shuichi sighed, and sat up so he could lie on the couch. In front of the couch was the coffee table, where a bunch of puzzle books—mainly crossword puzzles—where piled on top of one another. Shuichi pulled out a random sudoku book and decided to solve one or two to help him fall asleep. Before he could grab a pencil, though, a piece of paper slid out of one of the pages.

Shuichi reached forward to grab it.

 _Dear Kokichi_ , it read. _This is about your one year visit to Japan._

...What?

Shuichi rubbed at his eyes to clear his vision, prepared to continue reading.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! All comments and kudos are really appreciated - they're what motivates me. They mean a lot to me.
> 
> In case you're wondering when the next update will be, the answer is... I don't know. I know it's kind of a lazy answer, but I really have no idea when the next chapter will be. I don't want to promise anything, but I'm hoping to have the next update out much quicker than this one! If that ends up not being the case, I really hope that all of you can understand. 
> 
> I hope you all have a great day!

**Author's Note:**

> [follow my tumblr if you're interested!](https://emiiriii.tumblr.com/)


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